Andy Ruiz Jr. says he knows who his next opponent is – will announce soon

By Aragon Garcia: Andy Ruiz Jr. says his manager has told him who he’ll be facing next, and he’s pretty excited about it. The former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) says he “CAN’T wait” get back in the ring to resume his career after loss to Anthony Joshua last December in Saudi.

The way that Ruiz is hinting, it sounds like his next opponnet will be a big name fighter. Some boxing fans are already guessing that Ruiz Jr. will be fighting two-time former heavyeight world title challenger Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz. That would be an excellent fight for Ruiz to put himself immediately back into a trilogy fight against Joshua. Besides Ortiz, there are a lot of excellent options or Ruiz Jr. for his next fight.

“andy_destroyer13: I can’t wait to get back in the ring for my next fight 🏆🇲🇽🥊#youngdestroyer,” said Ruiz.

What makes Ortiz great is he’s coming off of a fight against WBC champion Deontay Wilder, and Ruiz will get a lot of attention if he faces him next. A lot of fighters have steered clear of the talented Cuban fighter.

Recently, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn made an offer to Ruiz Jr., 30, for a fight against Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte for April or May, but the negotiations fell apart without a deal agreed. Ruiz would have obviously taken the fight against Whyte if Hearn had made an offer that made sense to him.

Whyte wasn’t happy about not getting the fight with Ruiz, but he needs to blame his promoter Hearn. He’s the one that failed to offer Ruiz enough money to take the fight.

After becoming an instant millionaire, Ruiz Jr. let his concentration slip, and didn’t prepare adaquetely to beat Joshua in the second fight. More importantly, Ruiz Jr. let weight get out of hand, and didn’t give hiself the proper chance. Ruiz weighed 283 lbs. He lacked the mobility to cutoff the ring on Joshua, who stayed on the move for the full 12 rounds. Ruiz Jr. lost by the scores 118-110, 119-109 and 118-110.

Andy is supposed to be meeting with Teddy Atlas to see if he’s someone that he wants to work with as his new trainer. Ruiz parted with his previous coach Manny Robles following his loss to Joshua last December. Some fans gave Ruiz Jr. grief for him moving on from Robles, but it was pretty clear that he needed to.

With Ruiz movning up to the elite level, he needed to upgrade his trainer, which is what he’s currently looking to do. Atlas is expected to be one of a number of trainers that Ruiz Jr. meets with before he makes his final decision on who will be his ultimate coach.